$1,000,000,000 in 1938 is worth $17,021,773,049.65 in 2016

Value of $1,000,000,000 from 1938 to 2016

$1,000,000,000 in 1938 is equivalent in purchasing power to about $17,021,773,049.65 in 2016, an increase of $16,021,773,049.65 over 78 years. The dollar had an average inflation rate of 3.70% per year between 1938 and 2016, producing a cumulative price increase of 1,602.18%.

This means that prices in 2016 are 17.02 times as high as average prices since 1938, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics consumer price index.

The inflation rate in 1938 was -2.08%. The inflation rate in 2016 was 1.26%. The 2016 inflation rate is lower compared to the average inflation rate of 3.26% per year between 2016 and 2024.


Inflation from 1938 to 2016
Cumulative price change1,602.18%
Average inflation rate3.70%
Converted amount
$1,000,000,000 base
$17,021,773,049.65
Price difference
$1,000,000,000 base
$16,021,773,049.65
CPI in 193814.100
CPI in 2016240.007
Inflation in 1938-2.08%
Inflation in 20161.26%
$1,000,000,000 in 1938$17,021,773,049.65 in 2016

USD inflation since 1938
Annual Rate, the Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI
Download

Buying power of $1,000,000,000 in 1938

This chart shows a calculation of buying power equivalence for $1,000,000,000 in 1938 (price index tracking began in 1635).

For example, if you started with $1,000,000,000, you would need to end with $17,021,773,049.65 in order to "adjust" for inflation (sometimes refered to as "beating inflation").

When $1,000,000,000 is equivalent to $17,021,773,049.65 over time, that means that the "real value" of a single U.S. dollar decreases over time. In other words, a dollar will pay for fewer items at the store.

This effect explains how inflation erodes the value of a dollar over time. By calculating the value in 1938 dollars, the chart below shows how $1,000,000,000 is worth less over 78 years.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, each of these USD amounts below is equal in terms of what it could buy at the time:

Dollar inflation: 1938-2016
YearDollar ValueInflation Rate
1938$1,000,000,000.00-2.08%
1939$985,815,602.84-1.42%
1940$992,907,801.420.72%
1941$1,042,553,191.495.00%
1942$1,156,028,368.7910.88%
1943$1,226,950,354.616.13%
1944$1,248,226,950.351.73%
1945$1,276,595,744.682.27%
1946$1,382,978,723.408.33%
1947$1,581,560,283.6914.36%
1948$1,709,219,858.168.07%
1949$1,687,943,262.41-1.24%
1950$1,709,219,858.161.26%
1951$1,843,971,631.217.88%
1952$1,879,432,624.111.92%
1953$1,893,617,021.280.75%
1954$1,907,801,418.440.75%
1955$1,900,709,219.86-0.37%
1956$1,929,078,014.181.49%
1957$1,992,907,801.423.31%
1958$2,049,645,390.072.85%
1959$2,063,829,787.230.69%
1960$2,099,290,780.141.72%
1961$2,120,567,375.891.01%
1962$2,141,843,971.631.00%
1963$2,170,212,765.961.32%
1964$2,198,581,560.281.31%
1965$2,234,042,553.191.61%
1966$2,297,872,340.432.86%
1967$2,368,794,326.243.09%
1968$2,468,085,106.384.19%
1969$2,602,836,879.435.46%
1970$2,751,773,049.655.72%
1971$2,872,340,425.534.38%
1972$2,964,539,007.093.21%
1973$3,148,936,170.216.22%
1974$3,496,453,900.7111.04%
1975$3,815,602,836.889.13%
1976$4,035,460,992.915.76%
1977$4,297,872,340.436.50%
1978$4,624,113,475.187.59%
1979$5,148,936,170.2111.35%
1980$5,843,971,631.2113.50%
1981$6,446,808,510.6410.32%
1982$6,843,971,631.216.16%
1983$7,063,829,787.233.21%
1984$7,368,794,326.244.32%
1985$7,631,205,673.763.56%
1986$7,773,049,645.391.86%
1987$8,056,737,588.653.65%
1988$8,390,070,921.994.14%
1989$8,794,326,241.134.82%
1990$9,269,503,546.105.40%
1991$9,659,574,468.094.21%
1992$9,950,354,609.933.01%
1993$10,248,226,950.352.99%
1994$10,510,638,297.872.56%
1995$10,808,510,638.302.83%
1996$11,127,659,574.472.95%
1997$11,382,978,723.402.29%
1998$11,560,283,687.941.56%
1999$11,815,602,836.882.21%
2000$12,212,765,957.453.36%
2001$12,560,283,687.942.85%
2002$12,758,865,248.231.58%
2003$13,049,645,390.072.28%
2004$13,397,163,120.572.66%
2005$13,851,063,829.793.39%
2006$14,297,872,340.433.23%
2007$14,705,106,382.982.85%
2008$15,269,716,312.063.84%
2009$15,215,390,070.92-0.36%
2010$15,464,964,539.011.64%
2011$15,953,120,567.383.16%
2012$16,283,262,411.352.07%
2013$16,521,773,049.651.46%
2014$16,789,787,234.041.62%
2015$16,809,716,312.060.12%
2016$17,021,773,049.651.26%
2017$17,384,397,163.122.13%
2018$17,817,730,496.452.49%
2019$18,131,737,588.651.76%
2020$18,355,437,352.251.23%
2021$19,217,742,316.794.70%
2022$20,755,732,860.528.00%
2023$21,610,082,742.324.12%
2024$22,008,936,170.211.85%*
* Compared to previous annual rate. Not final. See inflation summary for latest 12-month trailing value.
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This conversion table shows various other 1938 amounts in 2016 dollars, based on the 1,602.18% change in prices:

Conversion: 1938 dollars in 2016
Initial valueEquivalent value
$1 dollar in 1938$17.02 dollars in 2016
$5 dollars in 1938$85.11 dollars in 2016
$10 dollars in 1938$170.22 dollars in 2016
$50 dollars in 1938$851.09 dollars in 2016
$100 dollars in 1938$1,702.18 dollars in 2016
$500 dollars in 1938$8,510.89 dollars in 2016
$1,000 dollars in 1938$17,021.77 dollars in 2016
$5,000 dollars in 1938$85,108.87 dollars in 2016
$10,000 dollars in 1938$170,217.73 dollars in 2016
$50,000 dollars in 1938$851,088.65 dollars in 2016
$100,000 dollars in 1938$1,702,177.30 dollars in 2016
$500,000 dollars in 1938$8,510,886.52 dollars in 2016
$1,000,000 dollars in 1938$17,021,773.05 dollars in 2016

Inflation by City

Inflation can vary widely by city, even within the United States. Here's how some cities fared in 1938 to 2016 (figures shown are purchasing power equivalents of $1,000,000,000):

  • San Francisco, California: 3.96% average rate, $1,000,000,000 → $20,730,532,467.53, cumulative change of 1,973.05%
  • Seattle, Washington: 3.86% average rate, $1,000,000,000 → $19,211,891,891.89, cumulative change of 1,821.19%
  • Boston, Massachusetts: 3.78% average rate, $1,000,000,000 → $18,127,591,410.33, cumulative change of 1,712.76%
  • New York: 3.78% average rate, $1,000,000,000 → $18,018,124,287.34, cumulative change of 1,701.81%
  • Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: 3.69% average rate, $1,000,000,000 → $16,852,502,863.69, cumulative change of 1,585.25%
  • Chicago, Illinois: 3.65% average rate, $1,000,000,000 → $16,388,451,459.20, cumulative change of 1,538.85%
  • Atlanta, Georgia: 3.65% average rate, $1,000,000,000 → $16,323,321,256.04, cumulative change of 1,532.33%
  • Houston, Texas: 3.64% average rate, $1,000,000,000 → $16,248,616,155.29, cumulative change of 1,524.86%
  • Detroit, Michigan: 3.56% average rate, $1,000,000,000 → $15,279,592,889.91, cumulative change of 1,427.96%

San Francisco, California experienced the highest rate of inflation during the 78 years between 1938 and 2016 (3.96%).

Detroit, Michigan experienced the lowest rate of inflation during the 78 years between 1938 and 2016 (3.56%).

Note that some locations showing 0% inflation may have not yet reported latest data.


Inflation by Country

Inflation can also vary widely by country. For comparison, in the UK £1,000,000,000.00 in 1938 would be equivalent to £61,767,857,142.86 in 2016, an absolute change of £60,767,857,142.86 and a cumulative change of 6,076.79%.

In Canada, CA$1,000,000,000.00 in 1938 would be equivalent to CA$16,654,054,054.77 in 2016, an absolute change of CA$15,654,054,054.77 and a cumulative change of 1,565.41%.

Compare these numbers to the US's overall absolute change of $16,021,773,049.65 and total percent change of 1,602.18%.


Inflation by Spending Category

CPI is the weighted combination of many categories of spending that are tracked by the government. Breaking down these categories helps explain the main drivers behind price changes.

This chart shows the average rate of inflation for select CPI categories between 1938 and 2016.

Compare these values to the overall average of 3.70% per year:

CategoryAvg Inflation (%)Total Inflation (%)$1,000,000,000 in 1938 → 2016
Food and beverages4.072,154.2822,542,756,628.70
Housing4.322,598.1926,981,911,053.61
Apparel2.27476.605,766,025,054.54
Transportation3.381,233.0613,330,616,647.37
Medical care5.004,401.7045,016,960,418.22
Recreation1.11136.902,368,968,123.83
Education and communication2.14422.005,220,011,626.46
Other goods and services5.215,170.5652,705,613,563.56

The graph below compares inflation in categories of goods over time. Click on a category such as "Food" to toggle it on or off:

For all these visualizations, it's important to note that not all categories may have been tracked since 1938. This table and charts use the earliest available data for each category.



How to calculate inflation rate for $1,000,000,000, 1938 to 2016

Our calculations use the following inflation rate formula to calculate the change in value between 1938 and 2016:

CPI in 2016 CPI in 1938
×
1938 USD value
=
2016 USD value

Then plug in historical CPI values. The U.S. CPI was 14.1 in the year 1938 and 240.007 in 2016:

240.00714.1
×
$1,000,000,000
=
$17,021,773,049.65

$1,000,000,000 in 1938 has the same "purchasing power" or "buying power" as $17,021,773,049.65 in 2016.

To get the total inflation rate for the 78 years between 1938 and 2016, we use the following formula:

CPI in 2016 - CPI in 1938CPI in 1938
×
100
=
Cumulative inflation rate (78 years)

Plugging in the values to this equation, we get:

240.007 - 14.114.1
×
100
=
1,602%

Comparison to S&P 500 Index

The average inflation rate of 3.70% has a compounding effect between 1938 and 2016. As noted above, this yearly inflation rate compounds to produce an overall price difference of 1,602.18% over 78 years.

To help put this inflation into perspective, if we had invested $1,000,000,000 in the S&P 500 index in 1938, our investment would be nominally worth approximately $3,450,529,866,770.87 in 2016. This is a return on investment of 344,952.99%, with an absolute return of $3,449,529,866,770.87 on top of the original $1,000,000,000.

These numbers are not inflation adjusted, so they are considered nominal. In order to evaluate the real return on our investment, we must calculate the return with inflation taken into account.

The compounding effect of inflation would account for 94.13% of returns ($3,247,817,149,552.33) during this period. This means the inflation-adjusted real return of our $1,000,000,000 investment is $201,712,717,218.54. You may also want to account for capital gains tax, which would take your real return down to around $171,455,809,636 for most people.

Investment in S&P 500 Index, 1938-2016
Original AmountFinal AmountChange
Nominal$1,000,000,000$3,450,529,866,770.87344,952.99%
Real
Inflation Adjusted
$1,000,000,000$202,712,717,218.5420,171.27%

Information displayed above may differ slightly from other S&P 500 calculators. Minor discrepancies can occur because we use the latest CPI data for inflation, annualized inflation numbers for previous years, and we compute S&P price and dividends from January of 1938 to latest available data for 2016 using average monthly close price.

For more details on the S&P 500 between 1938 and 2016, see the stock market returns calculator.


Data source & citation

Raw data for these calculations comes from the Bureau of Labor Statistics' (CPI), established in 1913. Price index data from 1774 to 1912 is sourced from a historical study conducted by political science professor Robert Sahr at Oregon State University and from the American Antiquarian Society. Price index data from 1634 to 1773 is from the American Antiquarian Society, using British pound equivalents.

You may use the following MLA citation for this page: “$1,000,000,000 in 1938 → 2016 | Inflation Calculator.” Official Inflation Data, Alioth Finance, 28 Mar. 2024, https://www.officialdata.org/1938-dollars-in-2016?amount=1000000000.

Special thanks to QuickChart for their chart image API, which is used for chart downloads.

in2013dollars.com is a reference website maintained by the Official Data Foundation.


Ian Webster

About the author

Ian Webster is an engineer and data expert based in San Mateo, California. He has worked for Google, NASA, and consulted for governments around the world on data pipelines and data analysis. Disappointed by the lack of clear resources on the impacts of inflation on economic indicators, Ian believes this website serves as a valuable public tool. Ian earned his degree in Computer Science from Dartmouth College.

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» Read more about inflation and investment.

Inflation from 1938 to 2016
Cumulative price change1,602.18%
Average inflation rate3.70%
Converted amount
$1,000,000,000 base
$17,021,773,049.65
Price difference
$1,000,000,000 base
$16,021,773,049.65
CPI in 193814.100
CPI in 2016240.007
Inflation in 1938-2.08%
Inflation in 20161.26%
$1,000,000,000 in 1938$17,021,773,049.65 in 2016